Tortall's Herald
by RubyScars
Summary: Katherine needs an escape from her life. Her father is drastically changed from her mother's recent death and she would take any chance to escape. Kris far from home and desperate to find a way back to his life would take any chance to get back. When these two young people meet on a collision of the great writer's Mercedes Lackey and Tamora Pierce's worlds what will happen?
1. Katherine

Katherine

Chapter One

The sun was warm against Katherine's skin as she lay on the wide tree branch, the wind blowing strands of her dark brown hair gently. Her horse and best friend Kailan grazed behind the tree purposely hiding from the road, his midnight hued coat camouflaging him in the shadows. He was enjoying this escape from the manor as much as she was.

She had just escaped the torture of being forced to learn embroidery for hours on end with little sunlight. The only light let into the room was from small slits high on the wall so no direct sunlight could ruin the colors of the ongoing tapestries that were kept in the cold stone room. Katherine couldn't stand that room. She had escaped, ready to take her father's anger when he found out just for this small break and was presently hiding from everyone and everything.

"Lady Katherine!" She heard a man call in the distance and a scowl came across her face ,"Lady Katherine!" This time the call came from farther away telling her that they were searching in the wrong direction. Her father had probably only sent a few of the guards after her so she had little chance of getting caught.

She took a deep breath of air letting the smell of the spring leaves fill her lungs and lighten her mood. Her father insisted that she learn to sew, embroider, and learn lady like manners. Even Queen Thayet took breaks from being a lady and she Katherine didn't understand why she couldn't. The skin between her eyebrows unconsciously wrinkled at the turn her thoughts had taken and ruining her attempt at good humor.

When Katherine's mother the Lady Aleidia was alive her father was happy and joyful. He had accepted Katherine as she was and even though he was disappointed he never got a boy he was just as happy to teach her about everything an heir needed to know.

He loved that she enjoyed swords as much as he did and her mother taught her the ladylike skills that were important and her parents had promised to never force her into a marriage that more ladylike qualities would be necessary. Lady Aleidia had told her daughter that she wanted her to find someone who loved her just as she was sword and all. Like she had found her husband, Katherine's father.

When her mother told them that they were barbarians Katherine's father would protest loudly that he was not a barbarian acting the offended lord all the while he tried to hide a wide smile. They really loved each other her parents.

Her mother was still beautiful when the sickness got her years later. The silver in her curls only made her look wiser and the wrinkles were few. Katherine's father hardly came out of his room and didn't eat almost anything when his lady finally passed away.

When he finally came out he demanded that Katherine start acting like a lady of noble birth and give up her unwomanly ways . Even though Katherine's mother never wished that she would be a lady when she was alive. Her mother wanted her to be who she is not be forced into being someone she wasn't.

Lady Aleidia taught her daughter everything she thought she needed to know and then let her father teach her to be a warrior. She loved her the way she was, and especially when Katherine would sit down and let her mother do her hair. She got her curls from the Lady Aleidia even though Katherine could never tame them and make them beautiful like her mothers. Katherine got her dark brown hair and green eyes from her father. The father that couldn't stand her.

Tears started to fall from Katherine's sad green eyes as she thought about her mother and father that she loved dearly. She might have only lost her mother to the Black God but it felt like he took both of them that day. Her father would hardly look at her and when he did it was cold. I can't understand why he hates me, she thought as the tears ran down her face, at least my palace family still care about me.

Lady Aleidia was friends with everyone at the palace. Even though some people wouldn't talk to her because of it she had befriended all the palaces misfits. Katherine was still close to her mother's friends and even though they weren't really related she had visited Uncle Numair and Aunt Daine all the time when her mother was alive. She even visited Lady Alanna and the Queen.

Queen Thayet along with Onua and the Queen's Riders helped her keep training when her father banned her sword and bow from being used at home. Her father never knew that she wasn't acting the complete lady on those visits to her palace friends, not taking tea as she told him.

Her mother had loved them and it hurt that she wasn't able to see them as often now. Her father kept her busy and tried to limit her contact with these women who was not the perfect ladies even if one of them was the queen. Only the fact that he would have had to tell the Queen why he made her stop visiting them, made him let her go now and then in an effort to not offend them.

There was an ache in her heart where her mother used to be and her old life. The carefree love filled days of her childhood. Her mother had listened to her and they could talk about anything ,the gift of all mothers to make the smallest things seem important enough to listen to. Even if it was just how she scraped her knee or how the boys in town mocked her it was important enough to held close and loved.

She would sing Katherine to sleep, singing songs about heroes and great deeds. Katherine had never liked getting dressed up but when her mother had taken her to balls and parties she had been proud to be her mother's daughter and had felt pretty in her fancy to pick out her outfit and sit still to let her mer wild mane of hair. It hurt that she was gone, leaving an empty void in her life.

Hoof beats on the path below Katherine's tree warned her that someone was coming and she swiftly wiped the tears from her cheeks. She quietly pulled her legs under her hiding them from sight, effectively hiding in the branches of the tree. The dull thud of hooves on the dirt road got closer and she leaned forward peeking through the leaves trying to see who was coming. Trying to see if her pursuers had found her.


	2. Surprise Meetings

Paste your document here...

Chapter Two

A cloaked rider was riding towards Katherine down the small path. The white mare trotted making soft thuds as her hooves met the dirt path. The mare's smooth gate and shining coat was beautiful and she probably cost a fortune Katherine thought as she examined the oncoming horse. Even from a distance she could clearly see that the stranger was carrying a sword. Definitely not the people her father had sent to find her.

The rider was alone letting her know that it was not from the small town that was to the east of her father's fort. The path was not commonly used and even though she knew that there was no bandits or dangerous Immortals out here at the moment the towns people always came in groups just in case.

They usually went to the more commonly used Beranger's road to connect to the capital city of Corus. Katherine watched as the person on the horse came closer hunched over the saddle with the grey cloak wrapped around his small figure. The rider wasn't holding onto to the reigns which were wrapped around the pommel of the saddle.

It looked as if the person was unconscious but the horse kept walking down the path. It didn't look like she was walking on her own. Usually a horse unsupervised would have stopped and ate at the side of the road by now. Well unless it met Daine like Kalian had, but most people didn't get smart horses from Daine.

Katherine leaned out farther, curiosity besting her fear, trying to see what the rider was doing and to see the strange horse when the person's head snapped up at her movement. In the next second something hit her hard as if she had been running hard and ran head first into a wall. She lost her grip on her branch and her fingers slipped from the rough bark to desperately claw the air.

As she fell Katherine let out a startled scream to have it ended abruptly as the breath got knocked out of her by the hard ground. She didn't have any time to react and she gasped as suddenly the cloaked figure was standing above her sword in hand with it pointed at her chest.

Chapter Three

With his hood thrown back Katherine could tell it was a young man about her age. With his golden hair cut shaggy and his bright blue eyes he looked every bit the young hero out of one of her father's stories. Now if he would stop pointing his sword at her Katherine might just think he was handsome.

"Why were you following me?" he asked in a demanding voice. He stared at Katherine expecting a quick answer. She looked him in the eyes for a moment before answering. "Now why would I be following you? I was here first just going about my business when you ride up knock me out of my tree, that was you wasn't it?" at the unexpected question he nodded and backed up a bit letting his sword tip dip lower.

When he opened his mouth to say something she just kept talking throwing him off guard ," So you knocked me out my tree, pointed a sword at me, accused me of following you and you are a stranger here on Lord Carlton's lands where I belong. Exactly. I'm not the one in the wrong here."

With that said she abruptly stood up pulling a knife out of the sheath under her sleeve. She might not agree with her father now but she took all of his lessons to heart. During Katherine's lecture he had let the point of his sword dip towards the ground letting her use the shorter knife to disarm him with no difficulty.

She didn't wait to enjoy his stunned expression as his sword fell out of his hands. Katherine ran towards her horse throwing herself on his bareback not waiting to put on the saddle. When the man rounded the corner he let out an expletive as Katherine nudged Kailan into a gallop straight towards him.

He jumped to the side and Katherine used his temporary distraction to escape. She urged the stallion to go faster using the trail to escape. Katherine heard hoof beats behind her impossibly getting closer even though she had a head start. Katherine could see the horse out of the corner of her eye the white coat flashing when the mare hit a patch of sunlight.

"Come on Kail my lad I know you can do better than this," Katherine teased him and in response the black stallion snorted at her and ran faster, lengthening into his warhorse stride. Katherine laughed at his response to her teasing. All of the sudden the white mare was beside them and her rider threw himself at Katherine tumbling her off of Kailan's back.

Unfortunately they hit a hill rolling down it together as they each struggled to end up on top. They hit the river at full force making Katherine gasp at the still chilly river. The winter wasn't that far behind and the river was still cold making her shiver violently as she fought the strong current and was pushed in under again and again. Katherine couldn't breathe and her vision started to go black.


End file.
